1. Field of the Invention
A catoptric reflecting device employing confocal paraboloids for concentrating rays into a well defined beam of a reduced diameter. (Class 350, Subclass 294)
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,457,253, issued Dec. 28, 1948 to C. Martin for a Reflecting Objective System; 2,534,543 issued Dec. 19, 1950 to J. T. Bullock for Light Concentrating Reflector Camera, and 3,407,122 issued Oct. 22, 1968 to B. W. Dickinson III for a Solar Still With a Casegranian Optical System. The systems of the prior art employ each a single reflection from each of their respective warped surfaces. They pay no attention to the ratios between the diameters of their respective warped surfaces, to the extensions of these surfaces relative to each other with reference to their common longitudinal axis, and to the diameters of the exit holes of their outer warped surfaces. They do not block or reject spurious entry or exit non-paraxial rays. For these reasons and others, they do not produce a well defined beam.